"To sleep, perchance to dream- ay, there's the rub."*

Is there nothing worse than feeling so very tired, yet being unable to sleep?

Tthe title of this post comes from Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy and has more to do about suicide rather than physical rest, but I like this quote nonetheless for its wistfulness.  For right now, I feel wistful for my bed.

We have had a busy weekend of preparing for family visits and trawling the city with a group of 10 people. Being 5 and a half months pregnant with a toddler in tow certainly makes it more tiring, but it was heartening to see my daughter so warmly received by her cousins (4 boys, ranging from age 13 to 7!)

So tonight as I try to finish stripping the beds and gathering the used towels while desperately wanting to head to bed and dream, I will think about the warm feelings brought on by seeing my husband's family, the adventures we had while visiting the Empire State Building, Ground Zero and South Street SeaPort.  And not to be forgotten, the great fried chicken we ate.  (Kyo-chon... this chain of korean friend chicken is a revelation!)









*Hamlet (III, i, 65-68)

"Furious Love"

Why are movie stars and their love lives so intriguing?  Why, more specifically, was Elizabeth Taylor's life with Richard Burton so compelling?  What made the public follow them with such rapt attention? Was it their drinking, their extreme spending, their chemistry, their make ups and break ups? Yes, it was all of those elements and more.  It was their dedication to one another and need to be themselves, which I think was ultimately their undoing.

After Elizabeth's death this March, I read "Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Century" by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger.   I am not sure I loved it, but I am not sure if you can love a story that is marked by excess of nearly every kind.  I am sure, however, that they loved one another till the day they died; Richard in 1984 and Elizabeth in 2011.   

Look at how gorgeous they were. 

The 'Queen of Cool

Forgive the title... it's so silly in light of someone so creative, so daring, so larger than life.


Last week, I went to one of my most favorite places in the world - the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  On exhibition, through the Met's Costume Institute, is "Alexander McQueen" - a showcase of just a few of the many, many brilliant articles of clothing, jewelry and shoes that were conceived by Alexander McQueen.


As many of you know, Alexander McQueen committed suicide last February just days after his beloved mother died.  Lee (as he was known in private) was shaken by his mother's death - she was one of his greatest, earliest and staunchest supporters.  Such a loss already contributed to a private life that was marked by periods of drug abuse and intense pressure to deliver collection after collection of couture clothing that not only dazzled his fans, but brought money to the companies that owned his label.


There is little to say except that he was driven by genius and madness.  Let these images tell you anything different.

"It's Only a Game" collection S/S 2005
Please also look at this headpiece - an Asian scape, hand carved.  It is not to be believed.

" It's Only A Game" S/S 2005. Lilac leather and horsehair......

In fact, as I started pulling up images from the exhibition, I realized there are too many to showcase.  Go here and be dazzled that people possess creativity, be delighted that forums exist for that creativity to be expressed, be saddened that Alexander McQueen is no longer around to enchant.

1960s meet the 2010s!

Isn't it the best when you see a line of clothing that you know you could live, love, eat, dance, shop, chat in?

I stumbled up Lesley Ever's website and instantly wanted each and every dress, skirt and tunic in each and every gorgeous, gummy-yummy fabric!  The styling is classic - A line shifts and skirts, wrap dresses, box pleat skirts, tunics - but the details to the paid to the construction and the fabric selection make it thoroughly modern and perfect for la dolce vita.

If I had pick of the litter is would be this little kitten:

Her name is Audrey and the fabric - Love Birds! (It makes me think of my friend from gradeschool who had a Parakeet, appropriately named, I believe, 'Keet.)

Another lovely thing about the website is that every dress is viewable in each fabric offered and there are accompanying front, back, 3/4 shots as well.  AND as an added courtesy, the Lesley Evers ladies show you different ways to wear the clothes. 

Good luck, ladies, I love finding clothing lines that are well thought out and whimsical!

  

Have you joined the bandwagon?

When I was young, my parents were adamant that I not partake in certain trends.  Pierced ears, Benetton sweaters, my own car, the Banana Republic paratrooper bag (this was back when Banana Republic smelled like dung because it was a "travel store" and offered vests with 8 mesh pockets).  I think they were trying to teach me that I didn't need something simply because other people were signaling that I did.  It was fine to get what i what but I had to really want it AND know why I wanted it.  Simply "needing it" because others "wanted it" wasn't good enough.

I keenly felt "deprived" at the time, but with the passage of time (wise tutor that you are) I love what they did.  It was a great lesson for me and I feel as if I now often, make a conscious choice not to do something, read something, go somewhere just because others have deemed it worthy.

So, with that stated, I can't say I "hate" the following things, rather, I haven't joined the bandwagon....

American Idol

Dancing with the Stars - D list celebs trying to scrap their way up to C list notoriety

Glee 

Any kind of musical (see above)

Lost

Survivor 

Any kind of competitive reality show*

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series

Why is it that when a thing that is presumably perfectly wonderful or enjoyable loses its shine once the crowds come flocking to it?  

* Yes, I admit in the greatness of ironies, I LOVE the Real Housewives franchise.  I cannot look away - I love each and every one of these ladies who willingly subject their lives and families to such (spot-on) examination.....  It takes a "lady" with a certain kind of hubris (or chutzpa) to sign on.  Ick on me!

Daphne, my love

Is there any one couture client more devoted to fashion that Daphne Guinness?

The hair (so Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada"); the shoes (Alexander McQueen Lobster shoes); the lithe frame (so Duchess of Windsor in its dedication to slimness)....

And her lovely dedication to fashion devotée Isabella Blow? Buying Blow's entire wardrobe before it went up for auction?  The article Daphne wrote recently in the Financial Times explaining her purchase was so touching, so reverential, so based in friendship that for me, it revealed another (unexpected) side of a woman largely known for just her fashion sense.

May we all know someone with such depth of taste and respect for others!

What is joyful?

Food related:
1) Hearing the pop of a perfectly chilled Diet-Coke
2) Getting the perfect bite of pasta - enough pasta, enough sauce, enough cheese
3) The cracking first bite of an apple or a pear
4) The smell of cookies baking (as well as the taste of cookie dough)

Family related:
1) Seeing my older brother after a long gap and seeing his shy smile
2) Hearing my young brother giggle
3) Having my parents roll out the red carpet for an ordinary visit back to my childhood home

Book related:
1) Knowing from the first paragraph that it's going to be an "experience"
2) Remembering that experience and excitedly relaying it to someone else
3) Picking up a book and remembering where you were in your life when you read it.
4) Knowing there is a Sequel!

Child related:
1) Hearing my baby gasp when she realizes I am coming to pick her up!
2) Watching her laugh when her father zooms her around and "lands" her in my arms.
3) Seeing my parents (and in particular, my reserved father) dance around with the baby!

Travel related:
1) Waking up in a new place and stepping out of the hotel with nothing but a map
2) Playing with new money
3) Feeling as if a new town has adopted you, even for a short time.